New Delhi, Feb. 18 -- After the rationalization of GST rates and amid festive-season demand, India's currency in circulation (CiC) climbed to record-high levels in late 2025 and early 2026. In January, it touched Rs.40 trillion. So far in 2025-26, CiC has increased by Rs.2.76 trillion, 3.1 times the rise seen in the same period the previous year.

Intriguingly, even as CiC has jumped, India continues to log record levels of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions. For example, in January, the value of these stood at Rs.28 trillion-or 70% of CiC.

Simultaneously, the cash-to-GDP ratio has declined in recent years to 11.2% in 2025-26 from 14.4% in pandemic year 2020-21. This shows that even as economic activity has been expanding at a...